I'm in the process of an elimination diet... A few days ago I reintroduced wheat into my diet after being away from it for about 6 weeks. I ate 2 slices of my homemade bread so I knew what was going into it (no nuts, dairy, soy, etc...) and within 10 minutes had my red eczema showing up and hives on my arms. Killer cramps, gas, & a headache. Needless to say, it's not staying in my diet. But how do I figure out if it's a gluten or wheat allergy? Do I have to get tested for it or can I just figure it out through the process of elimination? I've read that in order for the test results to come in correct you have to keep it in your diet, after the way it made me feel, I *REALLY* don't want to subject myself to that again.

Get a referral to an allergist - they will do testing to see if you have a wheat allergy. Gluten intolerance (celiac) is totally different, and a family physician can diagnose that with simple tests. Hives and eczema sounds like an allergy though.

you 'could' try something like rye bread/biscuits (ryvita is a rye biscuit we have here) or something with barley (malt extract) in it-both have gluten but are wheat free.
My son has anaphylaxis to barley (not gluten). In barley (and wheat) there are many more protiens than just the gluten protien so going 'gluten free' is not enough to always manage the allergy.
good luck-it sounds like you definitely need formal allergy testing.

Thanks for everyones input! I'll have to see about getting some bloodwork done for this. I have to go in for routine bloodwork this week, dr thinks I have low iron/B12. My blood pressure is very low right now, so she's sending me in for an EKG and some routine bloodwork. I assume i'd have to ask specifically for this test?

Hi, I know that both these allergies are different because my son is ok with oatmeal which has gluten but can not eat wheat. Perhaps a test of these two things may help ?
Also my son is low on iron so I am curious to find out what the doc prescribes you for low iron. Do keep us posted and good luck.

No GP or naturopath can help diagnose a wheat allergy. It needs to be an allergist. Wheat allergy can send a person to hospital and is nothing to mess with. Get a skin test and if you are allergic, you should have an EpiPen.

And if you do get tested for celiac disease you MUST be eating gluten, at least a couple of slices of bread a day for at least 2 weeks, so the blood test will not give a false negative. For the biopsy, you need to be eating gluten for at least 6 weeks.

Since the reaction was so quick, I would assume it is more likely an allergy, the symptoms from CD tend to show up 30 min to a couple of hours later. DH used to get hives before he was diagnosed with CD, but we could never pinpoint the cause of the hives. They are gone now that he doesn't eat gluten. He used to get headaches, scratchy throat and respiratory symptoms too.

There is a diff between wheat allergy and gluten intolerence. I actually have both gluten and wheat allergy, and gluten intolerence. My allergies give instant reactions like itchy skin, watery eyes, and triggers asthma. My intolerence usually takes a few hours, sometimes a day, to kick in and gives me things like stomach pain, diarrhea, headaches, and hives of dermatitis.

Just wanted to mention that gluten intolerance, if it's in the form of Celiac Disease, can actually give nearly immediate symptoms, too, depending on the individual and their sensitivity level. Non-gastro symptoms seem to be more common, in those I've spoken to who have a rapid response.

In studies, a cheek swab of gluten on a sensitive individual will cause auto-immune response within a few minutes. The theory I've heard is that some celiacs have a more noticeable reaction to that first introduction of gluten into the mouth and can 'feel' it, and some do not.

However, hives don't seem to be part of the reaction, that I've ever heard of. Itching, sometimes, but it seems to go along with a particular rash rather than hives.

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